Tuesday, June 2, 2009

A federal judge dismissed dozens of lawsuits over illegal domestic surveillance of American citizens approved by the Bush Administration, ruling that telecommunications companies had immunity from liability under the controversial FISA Amendments Act (FISAAA). The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which had filed the lawsuits, vowed to appeal the decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that FISAAA is unconstitutional. At stake was a potential billions of dollars in damages which the plaintiffs had sought from AT&T and other major carriers for tapping Internet traffic of U.S. citizens without a warrant. Lawyers now representing the Obama administration had continued to seek dismissal of the lawsuits on the same grounds that the cooperation of the carriers was vital to national security. http://www.eff.org